Corsa engine failure after garage replaced timing chain

[yaffle]

Hi, I'd be grateful for any advice as my engine know how is pretty limited.

 

I have a 2003 corsa 1.0 12v. A few months ago it was leaking oil, so I took it to a dealership garage and had a lot of work done, including replacing the timing chain and exhaust. I was particularly happy with the garage - their communication was non-existent, the price kept going up as they found more faults, and the air con that I'd asked them to look into was still broken when they returned it with no comment made.

 

Last week, the engine died when I tried to start the car (unhealthy noise then loud knock). I took it to a different garage who had a quick look at the engine and found that all the spark plugs and valves were damaged. They suggested it was due to the timing chain slipping, and as this should be covered under the warranty, I should take it back to the original garage.

 

The original garage has now had a look at it, and got back to me saying that the timing chain hasn't broken and looks normal. They say that it looks like one of the fingers off the camshaft broke off and jammed everything up, but to look into it further would need the head gasket taking off, costing £400 in labour.

 

I am suspicious that the first garage is just trying to blame something that wouldn't be covered under the warranty. With my limited mechanical knowledge I don't know if a timing chain slip could damage the engine and the camshaft or if the garage's account is plausible, so would be greatful for any advice.

 

It's not going to be worth repairing the car if I have to pay for a whole new engine, but if it's the garage's fault I don't want to let them off the hook. I'm thinking about getting an independent report - does that sound like a reasonable way to proceed?

[traffer]

The garages diagnosis of what has been damaged is probably correct. Their cause is more dubious. An independent report is probably a good idea. It is not unusual for timing chain/belt replacement to be done incorrectly. Cam lobes rarely break, if anything breaks it can be the cam itself. Cam lobes usually wear out. This would not cause the problem you have described.

 

Other thign t o take care about is oil. Was there sufficient oil in the engine? It will be fairly obvious on inspection if the cam has siezed due to oil starvation.

 

This should all be checkable without removing the cylinder head. The cam cover should be removed after first checking the cam timing.

[gbjadyy]

if you drove the car for a few moths without problems then its most likely that the original work carried out was ok , if there was a problem with there fitting of the timing chain that would have probly shown up quite quickly as that area with without dobt rear its ugly head if things arnt right in there, you have the 1 lt ecotec engine and this engine is prone to having the camshaft carriers come loose ( they have a very low torque setting on them ) and thats not much more than being finger tight so its not uncommon for these to work loose and i would advise anyone with these engines to have them inspected on a regualar basis, so lets get back to your problem !! if the dredded cam carriers come loose this can thaen lead to the camshaft running out within its housing ( not being held tightly and vibratting and witht he extra play present due to the carriers being loose), this in turn can lead to failure of the "fingers" ( slippers as some call them) sometimes jumping out from under the camshaft or sometimes breaking i two as sugested by your garage, i have even seen them break the camshafts in two aswell from this problem on several occassions, so unfotunately for you on this occassion and in my mprofessional opinion i am incline to agree with tha garage that says its not down to the origianl work being done and is now a seperate problem, also worth noting sometimes this problem can sometimes show itself as being a noisey / tapping engine just before the problem occurs, sorry to bring bad news but this is what it sounds like to me and i have been a mechanic for 25 yrs

[gbjadyy]

traffer i think you might be reading this wrong, i know these engines well and they suffer as in my above post, also i dont think they mean the cam lobes i think they mean the fingers that the lobes push down onto but like i said i know these engines well and have seen many fail in this manner including completly destroyed camshafts and on a couple of occassions destroying the cylinder head where the camshaft sits meaning replacemnet cylinder head and all assocaited parts being the only fix possible !!!, if in doubt ask vauxhal tech and they will confirm what can happen to the engines